Have you ever had one of those days?

First, a little background ... My best friend lives on farm land that was passed down to him from his father. Some of the land continues to be farmed by other local farmers that needed additional field space so they could grow more corn, soy beans, tobacco, etc., but most of the land has been out of service for quite a while, so nature has reclaimed it. He and I have been working for a long time, on the weekends, to get the land and structures back in shape, cutting trees, planting new pasture grass, repairing/painting barns, etc., all in an effort to make his dream come true. He hopes, one day, to have a fully operational farm, much like his father used to have. Maybe one day we will finally get everything back in shape, but it has proven to be a very slow process. I enjoy helping him, because it allows me to get out and enjoy nature in a way that can't be enjoyed inside the city limits.



Now, the story ... After a few months of 70 - 80 hour, six day long work weeks, I finally got a break. The weather has been some of the nicest we have had so far this year, so I decided I would go over to my friend's place and give him a hand with whatever he happened to be doing. He was using his old 1950's vintage Ferguson 35 tractor to smooth some land that he was getting ready to plant some new grass on. I have known him since high school, and I have been helping him and his father on that farm for years. I have been driving that tractor for many years, so I am completely comfortable around it. Unfortunately, yesterday I got a little too comfortable. I had gotten off the tractor to adjust the rake. I needed to lift it up in the air to make the adjustment and the tractor has to be running to do that, so, rather than getting back on the tractor to crank it (like all the safety instructions say to do), I just bumped it into neutral and hit the starter. I have done the exact same thing a million times before, so I didn't think anything about it. Unfortunately, this time was different. Somehow, I didn't manage to get the gear stick completely into neutral so, when I hit the starter, it took off. Needless to say, I was standing directly in front of the back tire when all this happened. It caught my foot before I could get out of the way, and rolled over both legs. Luckily, my friend was nearby and managed to jump on and get the tractor stopped, but it all happened so fast that it had already gone over my legs by then.



I spent most of yesterday evening in the emergency room getting x-rays on my legs. Fortunately, believe it or not, although one of my steel-toe boots is ruined, no bones were broken. The doc said that I was very lucky to have on steel-toe boots. He said my foot would have been crushed if I had been wearing tennis shoes. He also had no idea how no bones got broken in my lower legs. I am pretty bruised up, and I will be pretty stiff for a while, but it could have been a lot worse. Thank goodness for small miracles, I guess. On the bright side, Hydrocodone is some real good stuff. I have always enjoyed flying, and now I know what it feels like to fly without wings.



I don't know exactly how much the tractor weighs, but I expect it to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,500 pounds. Here is a picture of a Ferguson 35 for those of you who might be curious. This is not a picture of the exact tractor that ran over me, but it will give you an idea of what I am talking about.

The moral of this story ... don't be a bonehead, like me. Never take shortcuts around mechanical equipment, no matter how many times you've done it before. It will eventually come back to haunt you.

The worst part about all this is that I had planned to go to the mountains today on the motorcycle. It was supposed to be the first extended ride of the season. The weather is perfect but I have to stay inside on the couch. Better luck next time, I guess.

Painfully yours until next time,

-VoR-